SEMO expands test-optional admissions for Fall 2021

Southeast Missouri State University will expand test-optional admissions and scholarships for new students in fall 2021, president Carlos Vargas announced Wednesday.

Test-optional means students are not required to submit an ACT or SAT score to be admitted or receive scholarships.

Due to standardized test dates being canceled across the nation in the spring because of the coronavirus pandemic, Vargas said the test-optional initiative has been expanded in efforts to provide greater access to higher education.

For fall 2021, Vargas said Southeast will extend the test-optional offer to more students who have completed the required high school curriculum and accumulated the required GPA of 2.75. The previous requirement for test-optional admission was a 3.5 GPA.

The value of academic scholarships a student may obtain as test-optional has also been increased.

Vargas said the criteria for several scholarship programs have been adjusted to “give more weight to a student’s ability and high school GPA, and less importance to a standardized test score.

“We believe these changes will help address two of the known documented barriers to earning a college degree: access and financial assistance,” Vargas said.

Vargas said the test-optional initiative began in fall 2019 in hopes of making Southeast more accessible and affordable to students from various backgrounds.

Vice president for Enrollment Management and Student Success Deborah Below said Southeast evaluated the results from the fall 2019 test-optional admissions over the summer.

“We found that students admitted in Fall 2018 were successful at a similar rate to all other students,” Below said. “Consequently, we prioritized further reallocation of financial resources to assist students who have achieved a high GPA in high school but may not have reached the required test scores for scholarships.”

For more information about test-optional admissions and scholarships at Southeast, visit www.semo.edu/notest.